Express container type cargo airplane



H. D. FOWLER EXPRESS CONTAINER TYPE CARGO AIRPLANE July 19, 1949. Y

4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed A ril 17. 1945 INVENTOR. 1

A 212mm 014 452,

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July 19, 1949. H. D. FOWLER EXPRESS CONTAINER TYPE CARGO AIRPLANE FiledApril 17, 1945 4 sheets sheet 2 I INVENTOR.

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ATTORNEY.

July 19, 1949. H. D. FOWLER EXPRESS CONTAINER TYPE CARGQAIRPPANE 4Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 17, 1945 w W 7 v w M w ....l u, T W, .v 5 2 M7 E j 7 2 5 H v-1 M 0 a B 1 l Bi W 7 n A. l; m w w w a 4 m 6 n E M f M mN 5 u w 0 2 2 1 3 no 0 4 Q, w 5 ar H 3 5 4 1. w .1 w y a 1 J -5- 1 WW 10.1.1, w p w V INVENTOR. AQez/w QE ATTORNEY.

July 19, 1949. H. D. FOWLER v EXPRESS CONTAINER TYPE CARGO AIRPLANE 4Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 17, 1945 w 101 a I Patented July 19, 4 3::

EXPRESS CONTAINER TYPE CARGO AIRPLANE Harlan D. Fowler, Whittier,Calif.- Application April 17, 1945, Serial No.- 588,865

7 Claims.

, This invention relates to a cargo airplane hav- 7 ing the followinggeneral characteristics: A balanced streamlined design fore and aft ofthe wing; removable cargo containers when in place end to end in tandemforming part of the fuselage streamlined contour, and these preferablyall positioned forward of the wing; such containers being removable andreplaceable in a lateral horizontal direction from either side, orvertically, as desired; centrally controlled means to lock thecontainers in position on the fuselage platform, and auxiliaryfmanuallocking means individually operated for the several containers; landinggear supporting the fuselage close to the ground, enabling the ship tocome close inside i or alongside a ramp, with the landing wheels underthe ramp; apusher propeller, preferably reversible, so that the ship canbe moved up inside or alongside a ramp, and the propeller blades bereversed to back the ship out; and the propeller being mounted high,whereby adequate clearanceis obtained for the propeller notwithstandingthe fuselage is low to theground.

Additional features reside in a novel air cooling system for the motors,which may be mounted within the fuselage aft of the cargo containersection, thus contributing to the accessibility of the containers, andwhich motors, by virtue of a forced draft cooling system, may be leftidling when loading or unloading the plane.

' Another feature is the provision of a passage-- Way for controls inthe belly region of the fuselage, with access holes below formaintenance accessibility thereto. 7

More specifically, a feature of importance is the provision of tracks onthe bed or platform of the fuselage on which rollers or .casterson thecargo containers are movably supported.

A number of other novel features inherent in my concepts are disclosedas the description progresses, and many of the features indicated aresusceptible of substitution b elements which are equivalent.

A broad object of my invention is to produce an express containertypecargo airplane which embodies improvements over myU. S. Patent No.1,992,941, granted March 5, 1935, for Airplane construction, and alsoover various co-pending A applications.

cargo container type streamlined airplane with the container rollers,and

gines 2'5 mounted within motors mounted within the fuselage and cou'-pled with pusher type propellers located aft, the fuselage designaffording suitable air cooling ducts for the motors, the fuselage havinga long nose section for removable cargo containers, and convenientaccessibility to such containers from either side, and a landing gearsupporting the fuselage low to the ground and in sufficient proximity toan adjacent loading ramp or ramps so that containers may be rolled fromthe airplane to the ramp or vice versa.

These, and other objects of the invention will become further apparentfrom the more detailed description which follows.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view'of an airplane embodying my invention, inaloadling dock.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the airplane, with parts in section,

Figure 3 is a vertical cross section through the pilots compartment,taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

' Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the cargo containers formingan element of the airplane.

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary side view, partly in section,showing the container locking elements, and taken generally along theline 5-5 of Figure '7.

' Figure 6 is a shown in'Figure 5.

Figure '7 is a vertical section through one side of the fuselageplatform, showing the track for thelocking mechanisms, taken along theline 1-4 of Figure 5.

Figure'la is a fragmentary section taken on line la--|a of Figure 5.

Figure 8 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontalsection through the enginecompartment of the fuselage, and illustrating the air cooling ducts andcarbureter intake ducts.

Figure 9 is a vertical section taken on the line 9-9 of Figure 8.

Figure 10 is a cross section taken on the line |0Hl of Figure 9.

Figure 11 is an enlarged cross section of the platform. and belly regionof the fuselage taken on the line I |-l I of Figure 2.

Figure 12 is a cross section taken on line I2-l2 of Figure 11. I

; The airplane 20 comprises a fuselage 2|, wing 22, tail controlassembly 23, pusher type propellerz l mounted aft of the tail assembly,enthe' fuselage, and a tritop plan View of the assembly tion'of the dockbe at the extreme of suchfuselage positions.

deck and to the side spars 60.

cycle type landing gear indicated as 26. The airplane is shown in aloading dock 21.

The airplane design is statically and aerodynamically balanced so thatwhen the plane is on the ground the fuselage maintains the same attitudeas in horizontal flight, and the landing gear is designed so that thefuselage platform carrying the cargo containers will be approximately inthe same horizontal plane as the top 30 of the loading dock.

This dock may have an inclined ramp 3! leading to the level top 30.Also, the vertical support 32 nearest the loading edge 33 should bespaced away from such edge to provide room for the rear wheels 34 of thelanding gearv upon the top. The other detailsof construction of theclock can be conventional. Preferably complementary clocks are employed,with a passage 35 therebetween substantially wide enough for entrance ofthe fuselage element of the airplane. The wing is above the dock, andthe propeller is outside of it. Figure 1 illustrates the desiredrelationship between the plane and the loading dock when the plane isstationed for loading or unloading. By the use of thetwin dockarrangement shown in Figure 1, containers can be rolled off the fuselageplatform at one side, and other containers rolled from the opposite sideonto the fuselage platform, thus providing continuous systematicmovements of the containers. The same arrangement provides ease ofloadin and unloading bulk cargo at the rear doors, later described.

The landing gear 25 preferably comprises a small nose wheel or wheels36, which may or may not be retractible.and/orsteerable, in addition tothe large aft wheels 34. The latter are preferably carried by aretractible means 31, of any suitable design, intended to nest thewheels in the faired-position shown at 34 when the airplane is inflight. The details of the wheel mountings are not part of my invention,the important thing being to observe the requirements necessary tomaintain the relationship between plane and ground, and plane andloading "dock illustrated and described. Inasmuch as the fuselageplatform level may vary'10" -more or less between empty and loadedcondition, due

to change in length-of shock absorber struts in the landing gear, it isdesirable that the'elevaapproximate upp r The fuselage 2| includes apilots compartment 40 in the nose 4|, a cargo container platform or bed42 between the pilots compartment and the leading edge of the wing 22, acentral engine compartment 43, a bulk cargo compartment 44, andinterchangeable cargo containers 45.

The pilots compartment is accessible through a side door 50, andterminates at the rear in a bulkhead In the bulkhead is a door 52 Whichis as large, or larger, than a door in. the immediately adjacent cargocontainer, later described, which doors are substantially coincident, sothat.

the interior of the foremost container is accessible from the pilotscompartment to load or unload packages while the container is in place.

The platform or bed 42 may comprise a longitudinally corrugated deck 53riveted to flanges; 70

54a of transverse bulkhead members 54, which are "in turn riveted toside spars 60 and to the inner wall of a double skin 62 spaced by bottomstifi'eners 5!. Transverse tracks 56. are secured to the The tracksinclude fiat rail elements 51 separated by elevated dividing bars 58.Rollers of the containers hereinafter described are adapted to roll onthe rails and to be guided and confined by the dividing bars 58. Eachtrack accommodates the adjacent rollers of two proximately disposedcontainers. Thus, complementary spaced apart parallel rails of two trackunits are required for each container. The tracks extend laterallyacross the fuselage. The end structure 59 of each rack is suitablysecured by bolts 63 to the frame structure of the fuselage including theside spars 60. The tracks preferably formed with arcuate depressions 64-at the four corner locations of each container space to locate thecontainers pending locking of-the same or removal thereof from theplatform.

To provide for the sliding of a container from the dock to the fuselage,an auxiliary hinged track 56' is provided between the edge of the dockto the side of the fuselage platform so that as the level of thefuselage changes with the loading conditions, the tracks will always bein continuous contact to the loading dock. When fully loaded the deck ofthe fuselage platform is normally about 36 inches from the static groundline, and since the depth of the platform, is about 20 inches theclearance between the bottom of the fuselage and the said ground lineis16 inches.

The end of the auxiliary track is formed with a knobular member 56"adapted to be engaged in a complementary recess 64' in the track 64 sothat the two tracks remain associatedfor movement of containers on oroff the plane.

Locking devices 65 and 66 are in effect part of the general platformstructure 42. Locking devices 55 are controlled simultaneously from acentral. location, as for example, from the pilots compartment. Theindividual corner locks 66 are separately controlled. In order tounderstand the function of these locks, it is desirable to firstdescribe the containers 45, which themselves form elements of the,airplane fuselage.

The containers are preferably all alike for interchangeability,preferably of proportions about 70 inches high, 42 inches long, and 7 2incheswide, the latterdimension being the approximate width of thefuselage platform. The general structure is disclosed in detail, in myco-peuding application Serial No. 4691390, now Patent No. 2,442,459.Such previous disclosure did not, however, embody rollers.

Each container comprises a framework In at each end, such'frameworkbeingon the outside so that skin H enclosing the ends may form a smoothinterior as this arrangement also favors a smooth interior at the sidesand top. A rigid bottom (not. here illustrated) is firmly inter relatedWith the frame. Horizontal frame elements 12 support a horizontalinterior flexible partition (not shown) which divides the container intoupper and lower compartments. The upper compartment is accessiblethrough a side door 13, and the lower compartment is accessible throughend doors 14. The side door 13 may be op ned either while the containeris on the airplane, or when it is off.

The lower corners of the frame structure are cut out as at 15 to providerecesses for rollers or casters 16 which are mounted on stub shafts T1fixed to the frame or floor. These recesses are sufiiciently high toaccommodate parts of the locking mechanism above the rollers. Therollers are preferably within theend and side extremitiesof thecontainers.

The overall locking system 65 comprises a locking jack 85 at each end ofeach track. Each jack comprises a screw threaded section 86 operating ina threaded bore 81 at the end of the track. The threaded section 86 ison a stem 88 squared at its lower end as at 89 to key with a crank 90which is clamped as by bolt 9| to a control rod 92 leading to a centralcontrol station such as the pilots compartment, Mounted on the stem 88is a T clamp 95 the vertical element of which has a bore 96 fitting overthe stem between a head 91 and a shoulder 98. The cross "of the T clampis adapted to engage the peripheral surface of container rollers forholdingthe containersdown on the tracks, or to be elevated for releasingthe rollers.

[wrench (not shown) to raise or lower the plate. Optionally, a springI06 may frictionally tension the pinion.

When the plate is in elevated position, it tangentially engages therollers of the adjacent cargo containers, and prevents lateral movementof these containers outwardly. -When lowered, the rollers are freed tomove out, providing the friction grip of the T clamps has been released.

Thus, for removing and replacing containers, the centrally controlledjacks 65 must be released, and then the individual plate locks 66 at thecorners of containers selected for removal must be lowered on the sidefrom which the containers are to be rolled. If a replacement containeris to be rolled on from the opposite side, the plate locks at that sidealso must be lowered but the opposed plate locks should be raised toprevent the replacement container from rolling on through.

When all desired containers are in place, all plate locks areindividually closed, and the centrally controlled jacks are clampeddown, thus cooperatively securing the containers rigidly upon the deck.1

As already noted, the bed of the fuselage forward of the wing, in thecargo container section, is corrugated and has approximately 14 feetopen space in which to receive the containers. Aft ofthe wing, there ispreferably the large compart- 'ment 44 with a flat plywood 'floor III,the compartment being accessible through a door II2 large enough to passan extra cargo container 45. Bulk cargo, or an extra container, or both,

vmay be stowed in this compartment 44.

The large door H2 is preferably duplicated on the opposite side of theplane so that cargo containers or bulk cargo may be unloaded from oneside and loaded in from the other side.

In the normal stationary ground attitude, the tail assembly 23 iselevated, and the pusher propeller 24 is mounted at the end of the tailassembly, so that the propeller has a material clearance above theground. This propeller is preferably of a reversible type, suchconstructions being well known, so that the airplane may be backed underits own power out of a loading dock.

The engines 25 are located in the engine com- .partment .43, andpropeller shafts I20 deliver power to the propeller 24, through aconventional gear box I2I. The high mounting of the engines and theoverhead propeller shafts contribute several advantages to the airplanestructure. Ample room is thus provided for the retractible landing gear,there is no obstruction in the rearbulk cargo compartment,and the highmounting of the propeller is facilitated. Moreover, either dual orsingle motors may be employed with this type of engine installation andpower delivery with a single pusher propeller without altering theairplane design.

A tail skid I25, with a dolly wheel I26, depends from the tail assembly;This skid ordinarily does not touch the ground, but is primarily toafford protection to the propeller'if the tail should fall.

An important feature of the airplane is the design of the fuselage andits relation to the engines. The engines are mounted within the fore andaft extremities of the wing, contributing to the general balance of theship. The upper section of the fuselage iselevated from the leading edgeof .the wing rearwardly and a substantial distance above the uppercontour of the forwardly located containers. The engines are supportedon suitable framework I21, comprising the wing main spar I2'Ia, acompanion beam [211), and longitudinal members I2'Ic, and may be readilyinstalled or removed from above, upon removal of an engine cowling I28which conforms to the fuselage patterns.

This cowling is formed with a central port I30, and spaced ports I3 Iinto which certain air ducts directly open. These include main air ductsI32 for cooling the engines, and subsidiary air ducts I33 for supplyingair to the carburetors I34. The main air ducts I32 pass air to theengine radiators, such for example, as oil radiators I35 and prestoneradiators I36, and thence continue to discharge ports I3'I'in the uppersurface of the fuselage just aft of the engine cowling, the dischargebeing regulated by vanes I38. These vanes are vertical to the line offlight when opened, the vane shafts running fore and aft.

The nose section of the fuselage being of less height than the centralsection, affords unobstructed air intakes for the purposes described.

Auxiliary fans, or equivalent devices I40, may be located in the mainair ducts, primarily to cause necessary cooling air ..=circulation whenthe engines are idling on the ground.

I provide a control duct I50 in the belly section, secured to thebulkheads 54 and the bottom skin 62 for housing the various controlelements such as those for the power plants, propeller pitch, tailsurfaces, ailerons and flaps, and landing gear This duct preferablyextends from the pilots compartment to the propeller. It preferably hasa top opening I5I, either continuous or broken, for passage of cables,etc. to controlled elements, and a plurality of access ports I52 in thebottom normally closed by plates 53 removably secured to the skin 52, asby spring locked Dzus fasteners well known in the art. In a plane of theapproximate dimensions suggested in this description, the plates wouldpreferably be about 8 or 10" square, and spaced about 7 feet apart.

By way of example, but not of limitation, an airplane embodying theprinciples of my invention may advantageously employ the followinggeneral proportions: overall length feet, wing span feet, height to topof tail surface 16 feet from static ground 'line'fwidth of fuselageii'ncargo section 6 feet, bellydepth (Figure-11) 20 nchesheight ofcontainers 70 inches, heightof fuselage aft of container, section 107inches, the container platform approximately 14 feet long,

ibelly supported about 16, inches above static ground line when fullyloaded.

My construction is readilyfladaptable' to jet propulsion in placeof theengines and propeller illustrated. The air ducts .are conveniently situ-Jated for air intake for a ietengine, without disturbing the forwardcargo-arrangement.

.Although I have herein shown and described my invention in what I haveconceived to bethe most practical and preferred embodiment, it isrecognized that departures. may be made there- .fromwithin the scope ofmy invention, which is not to :be limited to the details disclosedherein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as toembrace any and all equivalent struc- 'tures.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new. and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

.1, An airplane comprising a balanced fuselage andwing combination inwhich the wing is located centrally of the fore and aft extremities ofthe fuselage, there being a propulsive section limited to a position aftof the wing, and anose section of material length limited to a positionextending forwardfrom the wing and including a platformhavingstructu-ral bracing therebelow adapted to support in end to endalignment a plurality of cargo containers and said platform being devoidof any fixed obstructions forward of the wing to interfere withauthorized removal jlaterallyof cargo containers, tracks mountedlatorally across said platform spaced apart the approximately length ofaicontainer, a plurality of and on the platform for releasably lockingthe containers in position upon the platform.

2. An airplane comprising a balanced fuselage and wing combinationincluding a platform -adapted to support in end to end alignment aplurality of cargo containers, a plurality of cargo containers adaptedto beshifted laterally and substantially horizontally onto or off ofsaid platform without substantially elevating the containers above saidplatform, the: containers having 1 vrollers supporting themupon saidplatform, the containers being in end to end alignment and having across section'conforming externally to the contour pattern of theforepart of the fuselage, and cooperating means on the containers:

and on the platform for'releasably locking the containers in positionupon said platform, said 'meansincluding a plurality of looking devicescontrollable by a common member and said locking devices beingengageable with a peripheral .portion of said rollers, and supplementarylocking devices individually controllable and being engageable with adifferent peripheral portion of Y said rollers.

3. An'a'irplane comprising a balanced fuselage, and wing combinationincluding a platform adapted to support in end to end alignment aplurality of cargo containers, said platform being ,devoid of anyfixedobstructions above the sides ref said platform to interfere-withauthorized're-r externally to the contour pattern of the forepart of thefuselage and cooperating means on the containers and on the platform forreleasably locking the containers in position upon the platform, saidmeans including a plurality of locking devices controllable by a commonmember and said locking devices being engageable with a peripheralportionof said rollers, and supplementary locking devices individuallycontrollable and being engageable with a different peripheral portion ofsaid rollers.

4. An airplane comprising a balanced fuselage and wing combination inwhich the wing is located centrally of the fore and aft extremities ofthe fuselage, therebein-g a tail section aft of the wing, and anosesection of material length extending forward from the wing andincluding a platform and a plurality of cargo containers adapted to besupported in end to end alignment on said platform, the containershaving a cross section conforming externally to the contour pattern ofthe forepart of the fuselage, cooperating means on said containers andon said platform for releasably locking the containers in position uponthe platform, motive power means mounted within the fuselage centrallythereof, a pusher propeller at the extreme rear of said fuselage, andpower transmitting means between said power means and said propeller,landing gear for supporting the fuselage when on the ground, thefuselage of said airplane in horizontal flight and in stationary groundattitude comprising a substantially level container section of narrowdepth, saidcontainer section having structural bracing therefor on theunderside, the upper portion of the fuselage adjacent to and aftof thewing "being elevated above the. top of said containers and incorporatingair intakes having their entrances-at the forward end of said elevation.

5. An airplane of the-character described in claim 4 in which there is aframe structure within the central region: of the fuselage Ibut aft ofthe main spar of said wing, said motive power means being supported onvsaid frame structure closely adjacent the top of the fuselage and at thepoint of balance of the parts relative to the wing,

a cowling on saidfuselage above said motive power means and said motivepower means being accessible for installation or removal through saidplurality of cargo containers, a plurality of cargo containers adaptedto beshifted laterally and substantially horizontally onto or off ofsaid platform without-substantially elevating the containers above saidplatform, the containers having-rollers supporting them upon saidplatform,

the containers being in end to end alignment and having across-sectioncon-forming externally to the contour pattern of the forepart of thefuselage, and cooperating means on the containers and on the platformfor releasably locking the containers inposition upon said platform,said means including a plurality of locking devices controllable by acommon member and said looking devices being engageable with saidrollers at the upper side of the periphery for holding the rollers indownward position against the platform, and supplementary lockingdevices individually controllable and being engageable with said rollersat the outermost position horizontally of the periphery thereof therebypreventing lateral shift of the containers upon the platform.

7. An airplane comprising a balanced fuselage and wing combination andincluding a platform adapted to support a cargo container, said platformbeing devoid of any fixed obstructions above the sides of said platformto interfere with authorized removal laterally of a cargo container, acargo container on said platform adapted to be shifted laterally andsubstantially horizontally onto or off of said platform withoutsubstantially elevating said container above said platform, andcooperating means on the container and on said platform for releasablylocking the container in position upon said platform, said platformcomprising a shallow belly structure and duct for engine and surfacecontrols located within said belly structure and extending from a pointfor- 7 0 ward of said platform to a point adjacent the extreme end ofthe tail section.

' HARLAN D. FOWLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 341,154 Lindsley May 4, 1886571,497 Powell Nov. 17, 1896 1,609,978 Wagner Dec. 7, 1926 1,744,824Callison Jan. 28, 1930 1,797,713 Brogelli Mar. 24, 1931 1,86 ,076Callison May 24, 1932 1,992,941 Fowler Mar. 5, 1935 2,334,124 PetersonNov. 9, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 167,068 Great BritainMay 9, 1921 516,013 Great Britain Dec. 20, 1939 OTHER REFERENCESAviation, February 1947, pages 37-42.

